Hungarian Word Order in Affirmative and Negative Sentences

Hungarian word order is relatively flexible. However, in the affirmative, the verb often follows the compliment and in the negative often precedes it.  This results in two different patterns.

The Hungarian sentence Orvos vagyok means I am a doctor. Hungarian is a pro-drop language, so the pronoun does not need to be expressed. In the sentence Orvos vagyok, the verb vagyok occurs in sentence-final position. The negative I am not a doctor is Nem vagyok orvos. Here the verb is not sentence-final.

The sentence Budapesten lakom means I live in Budapest. The negative I don't live in Budapest is Nem lakom Budapesten. In the affirmative the verb is sentence-final, but in the negative, it is not. Hungarian uses a postposition to express in Budapest, and this is written as one word.

With sentences such as Orvos vagyok and Nem vagyok orvos, the verb appears in two different positions. It is clear that the negative particle nem must occur before the verb. If the affirmative sentence is analyzed as underlying, the negative is derived by raising the verb.

The same patterns occur in Budapesten lakom and Nem lakom Budapesten. Verb-raising makes the negation more prominent in the sentence. It is clear that the negative particle nem and the be-verb from a constituent.

Hungarian has two different word orders for the verb in affirmative and negative sentences. The affirmative can be considered underlying because it is the most basic sentence. The negative word order is thus derived as a result of verb-raising.